The Mayor of Lexington Avenue Book

A review I did for the Rocky Mtn News

• Plot in a nutshell: In balmy Bass Creek, Fla., a young convenience store clerk named Rudy, with an IQ of 75, bumbles into the life of loose and seductive Lucy Ochoa, hoping to get a little action. She invites him to her house - only to suffer fatal consequences when her jealous lover sees Rudy leaving, slits her throat and skips town.

Police Detective Sergeant Wesley Brume arrives on the scene and, in his haste to make a name for himself, frames Rudy, who eventually ends up on death row. During Rudy's 10-year stretch on death row, those who try to work on the case turn up dead.

Enter Jack Tobin, a wealthy Miami lawyer, who is coincidentally moving to Bass Creek. Tobin gets involved in Rudy's case after realizing that his best friend in New York, Mikey, was Rudy's estranged biological father. Jack owes Rudy's father a great debt because of indiscretions from childhood days. Thus, he's compelled to wade in to save Rudy. Soon Jack is fighting a criminal lawyer who is Mafia-connected and will do anything to get his clients off, including murder.

Let the fireworks begin.

• Sample of prose: "Cobb County was located at the northwest corner of Lake Okeechobee in the south central part of the state, where the word 'cracker' didn't refer to something you ate."

• Author reminds me of: Early John Grisham mixed with a dash of David Baldacci's legal and character development and Patricia Cornwell's ability to move a story along at a brisk pace.

• Best reason to read: Mayor tackles the controversial issue of capital punishment in a flawed legal system by putting a human face on it. Sheehan could have resorted to a didactic position, but instead has drawn a thoughtful narrative with engaging characters and an engrossing plot line. This is the kind of novel you want to curl up with and read straight through - a fast-paced, dandy debut.

Justin Matott